Military Report: Evidence Points to Marine Massacre in Haditha

Posted on May 31, 2006

A military investigator reportedly has evidence that the Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were the victims of bullet wounds, not a roadside bomb, as the Marines implicated in the crime had claimed.

WASHINGTON, May 30 ? A military investigator uncovered evidence in February and March that contradicted repeated claims by marines that Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha last November were victims of a roadside bomb, according to a senior military official in Iraq.

Among the pieces of evidence that conflicted with the marines’ story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest, the official said.

The investigation, which was led by Col. Gregory Watt, an Army officer in Baghdad, also raised questions about whether the marines followed established rules for identifying hostile threats when they assaulted houses near the site of a bomb attack, which killed a fellow marine.